2002:1106 - BALLYMACKEAMORE (BGE 3/66/6), Limerick

This site was examined as part of Bord Gáis Éireann’s Pipeline to the West. Two very large post-holes were excavated. No further archaeological deposits were noted in the immediate vicinity. The posts would have been 1.1m apart and were situated east and west of each other.

The eastern post-hole was oval at the surface and measured 0.8–0.9m. The sides of the cut sloped gently down at the top and became vertical from the midpoint downward. The base of the post-hole was flat and circular and had a diameter of 0.29m. The overall depth was 0.75m. Packing-stones had been pressed into the sides midway up the cut. Three fills were distinguished. The primary fill, 0.18m thick, was a light brown, silty clay with occasional small stone and charcoal inclusions. It was very similar to the first fill in the adjacent post-hole. The second fill, 0.35m thick, was a very dark brown/black, silty clay. Frequent charcoal flecking and occasional chunks of charcoal were recorded. A few small pieces of cremated bone were recovered from the middle of the secondary fill. The secondary fills of both post-holes were very similar. The final fill was a light brown, silty clay with occasional small limestone pieces and charcoal flecks.

The western post-hole was more oblate than its neighbour and measured 0.72m by 0.91m at the surface. The northern side sloped steeply down to a flattish base, and the southern side started shallow and became almost vertical halfway down. The overall depth was 0.62m. The lower part of the cut was circular and had a diameter of 0.22m. Four fills were recognised. The primary fill had a maximum thickness of 0.3m. The secondary fill, as the first, was similar to that in the other post-hole. The tertiary fill was, however, unusual. This deposit was red burnt clay, central within the post-hole, and was 0.1m wide and 0.06m thick. It was felt that the burnt clay was not representative of in situ burning but had been introduced from elsewhere. The upper fill was a brown/black silty clay with charcoal flecking.

The two post-holes indicate that a substantial structure, not seen in the area stripped for the gas pipeline, probably stood in the immediate vicinity. The presence of a small quantity of cremated bone in the fill of one of the post-holes is problematic. The two features are very unlikely to have been cremation pits, and it is possible that the bone derived from burnt food waste that formed part of a deliberate backfilling of the holes when the posts were removed.

2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin